Saturday, April 19, 2008

Story 49 – Story of Vishwaroopa Pradarshanam - 04

Rama-Krishna started in the chariot along with Akrura. On the way they encountered Kalindi River; they decided to rest for some time. They drank some of the water from Kalindi and relaxed under the shades of a tree (in the chariot). Akrura decided to take a bath in the Kalindi River. Chanting various sacred syllables he entered into the river leaving Rama and Krishna in the chariot itself. He plunged into the water and to his surprise found Rama-Krishna in the water along with him. He was surprised at this as he had left them in the chariot. He came out of the plunging and saw that Rama-Krishna was still relaxing in the chariot. He thought that seeing Rama-Krishna in the river was just a dream. Thinking so he plunged again into the water only to find Rama-Krishna clearly present along with their relatives-friends in the water.

Explanation


We find here the expansion of the form of Krishna from the bhaktha of Akrura’s mind to the entire world. It is this form covering up the entire world that was seen by Arjuna in the Gita. This is the way a particular form which is in the mind of the devotee pervades the entire world.

The truth is that the entire world is pervaded in and out by one reality of Lord. But most of us are unable to apprehend this all-pervasive form and worship it in our mind. This is because our mind is limited, our vision is limited and we are still attached to forms. But unlike other attachments, this attachment is towards the reality of Lord and accompanied by total & complete surrender. Hence the Lord himself will take us from the limited form to the all-pervasive form. If any of us become real devotees of a particular form of the Lord, then automatically after few months of practice we will find the form pervading the entire world – we will see everything as the Lord alone. When that one form pervades the entire world, it no longer is a form as form is that which is limited by space (the form pervades space and hence is no longer a form). Once the form pervades the entire world, then we perceive nothing but the formless Lord alone. This is how a devotee is taken from a limited form to the all-pervasive form to the formless Lord finally realizing bliss as the only thing present in the entire world.

Many of us might object to this saying that we have been devotees of a particular form for many years yet we haven’t seen the form pervading the entire world. This is not a fault with the process in itself but with our devotion. As long as our devotion is not complete and pure, we will not be able to experience the form as pervading the entire world. We have already discussed as to what is pure devotion but we will see it again briefly now so that we are able to always remain focused to attaining pure devotion.

Krishna beautifully mentions this in the 9th chapter of Gita thus:

Yat karoshi yadashnaasi yat juhoshi dadaasi yat
Yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kurushva madarpanam

Whatever you do; whatever you eat; whatever you offer; whatever you give and whatever austerity you do, do it offering it unto me.

This is not that tough to practice as we think it to be; what is essential here is not the action or activity in itself but the attitude behind the action. Whatever we are doing irrespective of whether it is good or bad, we just have to offer it unto the Lord (saying that O Lord you alone are present here – I am offering all this unto me). This doesn’t take much effort and we are not completely unaware of this practice as we implement this in one way or the other in our lives – when we remember our family or friends or lovers while doing activities in office & remembering our office work while doing activities in house.

What is required from us is just shift focus from objects of the world to the reality of Lord – remembering the Lord instead of other things while doing activities & offering the activities unto the Lord; as if our activities are nothing but pooja to the Lord. It is this pooja of offering all activities to the Lord that is real worship of the Lord as it alone gives us the total attention of the Lord wherein the Lord pervades the entire world taking us to the goal of eternal bliss.

Let us all try to be real devotees of the Lord like Akrura by offering all actions unto the Lord so that we may also be able to pervade the form to the entire world thereby realizing our own nature of formless, eternal and non-dual Lord.

Akrura saw Krishna as wearing a yellow dress, blue in complexion and four hands coming out of the dress. He saw Krishna as having all the dress and decorations of Vishnu. He also saw Prahlaada, Narada, Vasus etc. standing aside and singing glories of the Lord. Various goddesses who denoted different powers also stood around Krishna and sang his praises. Seeing all this, Akrura’s mind overflowed with devotion.

Explanation


Before the form that we worship pervades the entire world, we will be able to get vision of the form in detail that we have worshipped during meditation. Though the ultimate state is when the form completely merges and whatever is seen is just all-pervasive Lord, yet this means that any sadhana that we do remembering the Lord as pervading the entire world will not be futile. The Lord is one who grants all the wishes and desires of his devotee. This is not a mere statement but a promise that the Lord has maintained till date. If we analyze the life histories of Mahatmas and devotees, we will be able to very clearly see this promise being maintained by the Lord at all times.

Swami Vivekananda was always protected by the Lord in form of Devi as he was an ardent devotee who asked for nothing less than knowledge and dispassion. It was the time when Vivekananda’s family was suffering. Therefore Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa asked Vivekananda to seek removal of those sufferings to Devi. Swamiji went to the Devi temple and came back. When questioned by Sri Ramakrishna, he replied saying that he could not ask for relief to suffering but only could ask for viveka and vairagya (knowledge and dispassion). Sri Ramakrishna sends him again but to no avail. This happens three times and finally Sri Ramakrishna himself gives the promise that Devi will provide Swamiji’s family with whatever is barely required for living (without any major troubles). And this promise was always kept by Devi. Even when Swamiji went to speak at the United Nations and lost his passport, still Devi was there to take care of the bare necessities of Swamiji.

If we can develop at least little bit devotion towards the ultimate reality of Lord, then we also will be able to experience the Lord keeping up his promise in each and every walk of our life. It is but essential that we have pure devotion so that always we are protected by the Lord. When Draupadi called up to the Lord but was holding on to her saree with one hand, the Lord didn’t arrive. But the moment she let go of both hands and called up the Lord, the Lord immediately came to her rescue. As long as we catch hold of our worldly possessions and attachments, we will not be able to get the grace of the Lord. Instead if we are able to let go of everything and take resort only to the ultimate reality of Lord, that very moment we will be able to experience the ever-present grace of the Lord protecting us always.

It is such a devotee who has completely surrendered to the ultimate reality of Lord who is able to finally see everything as being pervaded by the Lord. He will not only be able to see everything pervaded by the Lord but he will also be able to see mystic experiences like viewing the various Mahatmas of the world. Once this happens, then the mind of the devotee overflows with devotion. This means that the devotee is ever submerged in the ocean of devotion. Such a devotee will therefore be able to see the Lord in various forms, various places and various ways. But in all these, the devotee will be able to experience bliss, peace, satisfaction and contentment.

We will continue with the story in the next day wherein Akrura praises the Lord through prayers.

Let us all try to gain pure devotion towards the ultimate reality of Lord so that we will be always protected by the Lord and experience bliss as pervading everything.

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